DARK FALL(15)

“Look at him bleed,” Blaine said.

“Fucking prick,” Erik said.

Erik turned and walked to the man he killed. He rolled him to his stomach. Sure enough, another piece of shit from Eight Under. Erik kicked over the bike the guy had been riding. Then he looked back at Kaity. She was still on her ass, but she was trying to find a way to stand up. Her left leg stuck straight out and when Erik saw the spot of blood, he rushed over to help her.

“Fuck,” he whispered. He had never meant for this woman to get in the crossfire of a club problem.

Erik dropped to his knees, chains hitting the ground. He put his gun down and his hand to her leg just below her knee.

“How bad?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Kaity said.

“How bad does it hurt?”

“It stings. A lot.”

“Look at me, Kaity.”

Kaity looked at Erik. He gauged her eyes and the color of her face. She looked pretty normal, considering she had just been mixed up in a shootout and took a bullet.

When Kaity tried to look down, Erik put a hand to her chin. “Keep looking at me, babe.”

“Okay,” Kaity whispered.

Erik unclipped the helmet and took it from her head. Her hair was a mess. A few strands fell to her face and Erik used the back of his fingers to move it out of the way.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” Erik asked. “You have no idea…”

“You were going to die,” Kaity said. “I didn’t want to see you die without knowing why…”

“Why what?”

“Why you want to die. Because… sometimes… I want to die too.”

Erik was taken back for a second. His hand cupped Kaity’s cheek. He didn’t know what to do right now. Scream at her? Throw her to the ground and walk away? Or just fucking kiss her?

Kaity slowly reached up and with just her pointer finger, she touched Erik’s face. She touched his left cheek and ran her finger down his scars. Erik gritted his teeth and pulled back.

No. Hell fucking no. I’m not… no…

Erik stood up and offered his hand. Kaity took it.

“Can you stand?” he asked.

“I’ll try.”

Erik pulled and Kaity flew up. She used her right leg and purposely fell back to the building. Erik went with her, as he was still holding her hand. He then placed his hand to her waist, not sure why, but it felt good. He pulled at Kaity, bringing her forward. She pressed against his body and her arms were around him.

“Erik!” Blaine yelled.

Erik looked back. Blaine pointed to the man on the ground as he crawled, blood dripping from his face.

“I have to finish this,” Erik said. “Just lean against the building and we’ll figure something out.”

Erik moved away from Kaity. He told himself not to look back at Kaity. She didn’t see his scars the way he knew everyone else did. She touched him… and she said… sometimes… I want to die too.

Having a beautiful woman wanting him should have made Erik feel good about himself. But it didn’t. It meant shit to him. It pissed him off. He started to walk faster, charging to the man on the ground. When he got there, the man looked up at Erik and let out a cry before Erik kicked him again, this time in the ribs. The man lifted off the ground completely and fell to his back. Erik pulled his gun out and got on one knee, putting the gun between the man’s eyes.

“Fuck, Erik,” Blaine said. “Don’t.”

“Why not?”

“Please…,” the man said. “It wasn’t my idea. It was his. He wanted to ambush you. Make a name for ourselves.”

“Shut up,” Erik said.

Blaine grabbed Erik’s shoulder. Erik spun and stood, the gun jammed into the gut of Blaine.

“What are you thinking right now, bro?” Blaine asked. His eyes were wide and intense, almost as intense at Erik’s.

“I want to keep killing,” Erik said.

“I know, man. I know.”

“Let me then.”

“I can’t,” Blaine said. He put his hand to the gun and pushed it down. “You need to take a breath, brother. Something is going to go wrong and it won’t be good. I don’t want you hurt again, bro. I don’t want you in trouble. Plus, if this guy goes crawling back to his crew, what’s going to happen to him?”

“Good point,” Erik said.

Blaine put a hand to Erik’s face. “You’ve got to work on the pain and hate. I’d start by working on that woman staring you down. She hasn’t been able to keep her eyes off you since we saw her.”

“She’s looking at my fucking face,” Erik said. “Like the rest of the world.”